Rare And Stinky Double-Stemmed 'Corpse flower' Blooms At Eastern

WILLIMANTIC, CT — The unusual and stinky double-stemmed "corpse flower" housed at Eastern Connecticut State University's greenhouse is now blooming.

The greenhouse is located in the David G. Carter Science Building.

To accommodate those interested in viewing the bloom, the greenhouse will be open Tuesday from 7 to 11 p.m. and Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can enter through the greenhouse doors located outside the back entrance of the Carter Building.

Those interested in monitoring the bloom through a live feed on the university's YouTube channel:

• https://www.youtube.com/live/qGfMC7c-eiY

The Amorphophallus titanium, popularly known as "corpse flower," is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the world's largest unbranched inflorescence-a group of flowers arranged on a stem-reaching heights up to 12 feet tall, Eastern officials said.

According to Eastern botanist and biology Professor Bryan Connolly, the plant wreaks of feces and rotting fish to attract pollinators that normally feed and lay eggs on dead animals.

A corpse flower's first bloom may take up to 10 years and last just three days. Under ideal conditions, subsequent blooms may occur every second or third year. Corpse flowers are rare in their native jungle environment; therefore the flowers' powerful odor is necessary to facilitate cross pollination between plants that may be miles apart, Connolly said.

Eastern's greenhouse contains two genetic individuals and several clones of corpse flower. Rare as they are, Connolly said the coming double bloom is particularly unusual and may be twice the stench.